We attended Sarper’s show at 7:30 PM on Saturday, August 16th, in the Panther Room. We arrived at around 6:50 PM and were seated at a shared table with another couple. The room itself holds around 300 people, set up with small round tables crammed closely together, which made it impossible to move around or even get up to use the restroom once seated.
From the start, the service was terrible. Our waiter, Andrew, took our drink order at about 7:20 PM. We ordered two Cokes and two Topo Chicos, and even handed over our debit card with the order. The show was scheduled to start at 7:30 but didn’t begin until 7:45. During the next 46 minutes, we had to ask Andrew three separate times about our drinks. Twice he came back asking us to repeat our order, and on the third time, he told my wife they were out of Topo Chico—something he should have known immediately. She substituted for Coke, and we finally received our drinks at 8:06 PM, nearly an hour after ordering.
When the drinks did arrive, they were in clear plastic cups and already watered down, clearly sitting out for some time. Andrew never checked on us again the rest of the night. Thankfully, we didn’t take the chance of ordering food given the service.
The comedy itself was good—Sarper was fantastic, and the other two comics did a nice job. But the overall experience was ruined by the setup and lack of service. The Panther Room is overcrowded, the waitstaff can’t keep up, and customer service is nowhere near what the club promises on their own website. They talk about giving customers “the best night out” with “outstanding service,” but our reality was the exact opposite.
To make matters worse, a 20% gratuity is automatically added to every check. Under normal circumstances, tipping is earned through good service. Our server did nothing to deserve it, and had it not been mandatory, I would not have left a tip at all.
The only reason I didn’t complain on the spot is because I was grateful to meet and see Sarper and Shekina from 90 Day Fiancé. But as far as Big Laugh Comedy Club goes, this was one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve had, and I will think twice before ever returning.
